The new 1957 Sinistra Raider, either the greatest achievement known to the common man, or a motoring company being sabotaged from within, depending on who you chose to believe. Two parts family car, mixed with one part V12 engine, a pinch of front-wheel-drive, and just a dash of class.
The V Engine Luke had wanted was still yet to arrive, but now they at least had a V-shaped engine. Their marketing was designed to hook the attention of cylinder-counters, those looking at the fours and sixes and thinking “I’d rather have 8.” Why have 8 when you could have 12, a whole half-an-engine more? Sure, the displacement is lower, but it claims to have ‘startling torque’ and it’ll go 100 miles per hour despite not having 100 horsepower.
The various ads Sinistra threw out there tried to capitalize on the car’s improved handling and that 12 cylinder engine. “Fighter planes had 12 cylinders, and now you can have them in your own car,” was a common tag-line for Radio ads. Luke even went so far as to make a TV commercial, getting a local barn-stormer to chase the Sinistra Raider in his plane while a camera crew rode in a heavily-modified Sinistra Swift pickup truck, filming the chase as the Raider raced across the desert.
In the chase, one of the photographers got a picture of the car that just seemed to capture it the best, and that was used for the main print ad.